Thiel men's basketball falls to Allegheny in PAC semifinal

Feb. 23—The Thiel men's basketball season came to an end on Thursday night.

Allegheny College beat the Tomcats in the semifinal of the Presidents' Athletic Conference tournament 106-66.

Elijah Harden, a Kennedy Catholic graduate, led Thiel with 20 points. The freshman also recorded six rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Ahmad Tejumola recorded a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double. and Marlon Ellerbee scored 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers for the Tomcats (13-13, 11-10 PAC).

Andre Wilder had a double-double for the Gators (20-8, 16-5), finishing with 28 points and 12 rebounds.

Ryan Lang scored 22 points, and Caden Hinckley had 21.

Things got out of hand late in the first half for the Tomcats. They trailed 15-13 just over seven minutes into the game. The Gators tried to pull away, but the Tomcats continued ot battle back.

That was until the five-minute mark of the first half. The Gators finally got a double-digit led and never looked back.

The Gators' offense was too much however. Allegheny led 53-33 at halftime. That scoring pace was duplicated in the second half.

It was the third time the Tomcats lost to the Gators this season. The Gators beat Thiel in the first meeting 84-70 in Meadville. In the rematch, the Gators came away victorious 79-67 at Beeghly Gymnasium.

Allegheny, the tournament's second seed, will face fourth-seeded Chatham in the PAC title game. The championship will be held on Saturday at at 7:30 p.m. inside the David V. Wise Center.

It's the Gators' first season back in the PAC since 1984. It will be their first conference championship appearance since the 2002-03 season.